Between Angels and Demons
by baka-senjo
Summary: TenchiRyoko. Ryoko is still haunted by the phantom of Kagato, and in trying to fight the ghost that plagues her mind, she hurts those she loves.
1. lying hidden

A/N: Just wanted you people to know that this is my first fan-fiction and will also probably be the first story I've ever actually finish. I'll probably end up losing interest in it somewhere along the line, but I promise you that if you really want more to it, all you have to do is ask. My e-mail is fairydust513@hotmail.com. I think I lose interest in things because people are never interested in it themselves. So I guess it's for the better, lol! Oh, and I don't own any of these characters, settings, and or cabbits. So don't sue me. Wait… I do own Kagato's son don't I? Yeah, well, he doesn't have a name yet and won't come into the story for a while, I'm thinking, so we don't need to worry about him right now anyway. Now I'll leave you to your reading! I hope you enjoy it ~_*

"Between Angels and Demons"

Chapter 1: _lying hidden_

"Wow Tenchi! Look at the sunrise!" the young girl squealed with delight.

"It's beautiful, Sasami," Tenchi smiled as he looked out of the window over her shoulder. The smells of fresh pancakes drifted through the Masaki house, waking up those who wouldn't normally be up until past noon. 

Mihoshi yawned deeply as she walked down the steps into the living room. "What smells so good?" She asked in a sleepy, childish voice.

"Sasami is making pancakes," answered Washu, who was already deep into her work. Mihoshi stumbled over to the couch that Washu was sitting on and peaked over her shoulder. She lowered her head to look at Washu's new invention. It was a round head that shared her likeness (a/n go figure). It had a blank face with fake spiky pink hair. 

"What's tha-"

"Weather detector" Washu responded quickly without being distracted from tightening a bolt on the bottom of the ball where a neck would have been.

"Why di-"

"Weathermen on this planet are never reliable. Ever"

"Oh… But-"

"Don't ask questions," Washu said with authority. Mihoshi gave her a frightened glance as she walked toward the sliding door.

"It's going to be a pretty day. What a nice warm breeze…" Mihoshi smiled as the gentle morning wind tousled her hair. Closing the door she skipped back to Washu. "What does your weather thingy say about today, Miss Washu?" 

"Well," Washu began, taking her chin into her fist. "It's late spring, so we should have about mid-seventies, and by the look of the cloudless sky, it should be a nice sunny day. But let's see what this little baby can do!" She triumphantly pressed a few buttons on her Weather Washu. After a few beeping sounds eyes opened on the blank face then a mouth and a nose appeared. It then yawned, and made a coughing sound to clear its throat. "You don't have a throat to clear, smart-ass." Washu muttered under her breath. The Weather Washu shut its eyes and didn't make a noise for a moment or two. 

Mihoshi poked it quizzically on the nose and began to ask, "Is it broke?"

"SNOW!" The Weather Washu yelled out, and Mihoshi screamed and she slowly slumped to the ground. Sasami's hair was on end.

"Maybe I should turn down the enthusiasm in its- wait a minute? SNOW?!?! How can that be?" Washu began muttering scientific terms and curse words under her breath as she banged her new creation on the coffee table. "What the hell is wrong with it? How could I have messed up?!" A small could of anger fizzled around her, and Tenchi felt the need to step protectively in front of Sasami. A lightning bolt cracked through the room and shocked Mihoshi. Her eyes bugged out of her head as she fell to the floor, spazzing. After a few moments of Storm Washu, the clouds cleared, and Washu sighed. She gently picked up her Weather Washu and stumbled into her laboratory. "Where did I go wrong?" They could hear her whimper quietly as she opened the door to the alternate dimension.

Tenchi smiled at Sasami, and she blushed at Tenchi's efforts to protect her. She stared at him in adoration as he opened the refrigerator to get out a carrot for Ryo-oki. "Can't be right all the time, right Mihoshi?" he laughed. Mihoshi was still spazzing and had begun drooling on herself. He called for Ryo-oki.

Sasami had walked over to Mihoshi to help her up. She called back to Tenchi. "Ryo-oki's not here right now."

Tenchi was shocked that Ryo-oki left the house without eating her carrot first. "Where has she gone, Sasami?"

"I'm not really sure. I think she went with Aeka to watch the sunrise." Sasami stood and walked into the kitchen to continue flipping her pancakes. "Come to think of it, I haven't seen Ryoko since last night at dinner time. I wonder where she's gone to?" Flipping over the last pancake she requested, "Do you think you could go find them for me, Tenchi? Breakfast is almost ready, and Ryoko might get mad if she has to eat cold pancakes." She smiled. Last time Ryoko was late to breakfast, everything was cold and she complained the whole day that the reason she couldn't work was because of the disappointment of her breakfast. This of course set Miss Priss off and another fight had broken out.

"Sure, Sasami." Tenchi opened the sliding glass door and stepped out into the early morning. He felt uneasy about Ryoko. Just before he went to bed the night before, Ryoko seemed like she was trying to sneak out. Her eyes worried him, they were cold and scared. He had never seen them look like that in his life. 

"What's wrong, Ryoko?" He followed her into the dining room, where the back door was. 

"I-" but she couldn't choke out the words, and when she finally spoke, he could tell she was trying to hide a tremor in her voice. "I'm just going for a walk, that's all." She looked down at the floor. She didn't seem to want to look at his face

He reached for her hand. What was bothering her? "Ryoko, please… What's wrong?" he asked gently. She turned her face up to his, but she quickly looked down again. Not before he had seen a tear roll down her cheek. Her cold hand slipped from his grasp.

She reached for the door and stepped out into the cool night. A breezed tumbled into the house and caught Tenchi's bare chest. The sudden chill made him shiver. Without looking back, Ryoko whispered to him "Please don't wait up for me," and she teleported away.

Despite what she had asked, Tenchi grabbed a book, sat on the couch and prepared to stay up to welcome her home. He was hoping she would talk to him then. He may have been able to wait up for her if he hadn't worked in the field early that morning. He had fallen asleep at around two A.M. on the couch, and had woken up stiff and aching.

"Where has she gone?" he whispered to himself. He knew that Aeka would be at the cliff a fair distance from the house that overlooked the forest. His feet moved in that direction and he hoped that Aeka might have seen Ryoko.

~*~

Anger, fear and self-loathing ripped through her body. In her anguish, she hadn't noticed the soft change from dark to day. Her thrashing around had cleared the trees and bracken around her on the ground. She was cold and anemic from the long hours of tears and from the pain she caused herself. The scratches from the thorny bushes began to burn, and her bruises were sore. Now she lay on her side, her body trembling from fatigue. Tears soaked her face, ran down her neck and were absorbed into her kimono.

"That's the one you made for yourself after ruining Tenchi's mother's, isn't it Ryoko?" 

"Kagato," she spit out the word like vomit. She saw him sitting on a stump near where she lay. She knew that he was dead, yet he seemed so real. His memory plagued her dreams and was now in her waking conscience.

He laughed. The noise bubbling from him made bile rise in Ryoko's throat. "Oh, but dear, sweet Ryoko. Don't you see that's what you are? You're the plague, not I. Even now at the Masaki house. What have you ever done to contribute? And what about all those lives you stole?"

Ryoko whimpered, "But… but Tenchi… he said that I was a good person… he believes-"

"No matter what you tell yourself, Ryoko, he will never love you. You are a demon. You are a tool of mass destruction," Kagato taunted her.

She gripped her legs tighter in the fetal position. With what strength she could muster, she meekly whispered, "But you're the one that made me this way. Washu missed her real son and she just wanted a child of her own. It's you that made me become a demon," she choked on the last word.

"Now, now Ryoko," Kagato chided, crossing his arms, "Don't deny your past. You are what you are. I only disciplined you."

Rage built inside Ryoko's body. Anger seethed through her veins. She gripped her fists tightly. "You beat me senseless when I refused to satisfy your bloodlust. You raped my mind. You made me believe I didn't deserve love."

He smirked wickedly. "I raped your body, too. Or don't you remember?" 

Tears swelled in Ryoko's eyes as the memory with Kagato came into her mind. The fear that she had when he first stole away her innocence returned. 

"I remember it well, Ryoko. When you were weak and broken, you would cry out for me to stop, but you yourself could never fight it. Did I ever tell you how much that urged me on? Oh, and those eyes of yours. They showed your utter fear. You should have learned to mask your fear from me. I feed off terror," he whispered and his voice lolled around in Ryoko's mind. She could feel him stand and walk closer to her. Her muscles tensed and she squeezed her eyes shut. Then he leaned down and whispered in her ear, "But do you want to know what was much better than all of that, Ryoko?" 

"Please stop," she whimpered.

"Discipline." He hissed. "Disciplining you was much more joy than I could ever have found in my life. To know that I had a weapon of mass destruction in my possession that loved and feared me. Because, like a dog, Ryoko, no matter how bad I beat you, you would crawl back to me."

This took Ryoko's sanity. With newfound strength she forced herself to stand. Anger replaced her sorrow. Now only the urge to kill this phantom was in her mind. Energy had already begun gathering, ready to form an attack. "I never crawled back to you, you bastard! You had to come drag me back to that hellhole you called a ship! I never, ever loved you. I'll kill you again, I swear it!" she screamed out in rage. Then she let loose the awesome amount of energy she had gathered and threw it at Kagato. To her dismay, the attack passed right through him, burning all the trees in its path. He was just an illusion. A cruel joke that her mind was playing with her. His vision faded, his crooked smile still taunting her.

Ryoko threw her body to the ground and cried out for Tenchi. She needed him by her side. She wanted him to tell her that it was all right, and that the things that Kagato had said weren't true.

"But they are, dearest Ryoko," Kagato's voice slithered through her mind. "And this I tell you is no joke, no illusion of your mind. I had a son, Ryoko. I mean, after you got caught, I needed _someone_ to wreak havoc on the universe for those seven hundred years. He never got caught like you did. He wasn't a failure."


	2. o, i am fortune's fool! Romeo and Julie...

I have actually followed up with a new chapter, something must be wrong with me… oh well, enjoy the second chapter! And if you're really lucky, there may just be a third!!! Oh, and by the way, I don't own Tenchi, or any of it's original characters, so don't sue me, it'd be a waist of time ~_*

"Between Demons and Angels"

Chapter 2: _'o, i am fortune's fool!' ~Romeo and Juliet_

When Tenchi neared the cliff where Aeka stood, Ryo-oki tumbled over herself to greet him. "It's breakfast time Ryo-oki." He smiled and handed her a carrot. He walked up the hill while Ryo-oki sat at the bottom, eating her carrot and meowing happily.

Aeka turned to Tenchi, "Hello, Lord Tenchi." She smiled. "Have you come to watch the sunrise with me?"

Tenchi scratched his head and glanced at the ground. "Actually, Miss Aeka, Sasami sent me to find you and Ryoko. I'm worried about her. It's almost breakfast time, and no one has seen her. Did you see her when you came outside this morning?"

Aeka looked disappointed but her voice was strong. "No I haven't Tenchi. She probably just wanted to be alone for a while. I know it doesn't seem like it, and I know she would never show it, but she's still deeply bothered by her past. Sometimes I see her leaving at night, and she has been crying. That's probably what happened this morning, she'll be back soon, just let her clear her mind." Aeka smiled warmly at Tenchi. He was too shocked by Aeka's friendliness toward Ryoko to tell her that Ryoko had left the night before. Ryoko was supposedly her sworn enemy, good against bad, "pure" princess versus "evil" pirate. Yet, lately, Tenchi wondered. He caught them drinking ogether one afternoon. They were laughing together and actually smiling. When he walked in, Ryoko stole Aeka's sake. Aeka then turned and yelled at Ryoko, and a meager attempt at a fight had broken out. When Tenchi walked away, he could hear suppressed giggles. He just shook it off and had gone back to work. 

"Are you awake, Lord Tenchi? Come on, I'm getting hungry." Aeka slowly began to walk down the cliff.

'…Tenchi…'

He thought he heard someone cry is name. It was so soft that he thought it might have been the wind. Yet there was so much pain and anguish in it that could not have been conjured by the breeze. Who would call his name with such sorrow?

"Ryoko," he muttered.

Aeka glanced back. "What Tenchi?"

"I just-" He began to say, but his voice stuck. A huge wave of energy was coming at the cliff. He grabbed Aeka yelling for her to run. The ground shook and Aeka screamed.

"Tenchi!" She cried. As they fell, Tenchi wrapped his arms around her, hoping to protect her frail body from the impact. 

Ryo-oki stood in shock at the end of the cliff. She looked down and couldn't see Aeka or Tenchi, only the huge mound of debris and rubble. She scrambled to find Ryoko.

~*~

Ryoko dug her nails into the dirt. "Forget about that asshole." She mumbled. She wiped her eyes and rolled over. "Time to be strong." She told herself. She hadn't realized how hungry she was until her stomach growled angrily. She stood on wobbly legs; finally realizing it was morning. She rubbed the dirt off her dress. "Look at you, you dummy, you're a mess." She laughed at herself. She scratched her head, surveying the real damage she had done. What was once a lush spot in the forest was now a small clearing, created from hours of rolling around crying, and for a while she had been violently angry, uprooting trees and shrubs, and throwing them where she pleased. She had plenty of her own bruises, too. A large trail of smoldering trees were the remnants from her "attack" on Kagato. "I hope no one's been hurt." She bit her lip at the thought of hurting someone else. She pushed back hot tears. "Now, now. No more crying!" She laughed at herself.

She sat down on the stump where Kagato's phantom had been moments before. It made a creepy feeling shiver up her spine. She breathed deeply to calm her nerves. "I need a beer." She joked. A smile rose on her lips and she stood to start the long hike home. Her smile faded when she heard Aeka's scream. A roaring sound that seemed to come from the earth itself rang in her ears. She turned toward the din. Her fears had proven correct. The clamor had come from the trail of smoldering underbrush.

She ran down the trail, not really knowing what she was going to be able to do, but her arms pumped hard at her sides. Before she remembered she could fly, she tripped over something soft. Ryo-oki cried for Ryoko in her own language. 

With a quick, quivering hand, Ryoko scooped up the cabbit from the ground. Her voice was shaking, and now she didn't hide her fear, not from Ryo-oki. "It's down this path?" Ryo-oki nodded. Ryoko cursed, her faint hope that her attack and Aeka's scream was just coincidence was crushed. Ryoko carefully set down Ryo-oki before she took off again. This time she flew low to the ground. The bramble and the underbrush were tearing up her legs, and her kimono was being torn to shreds. Thin branches slashed across her cheek.

Dark storm clouds blocked the sunlight and she cursed the day. "First Kagato, now this crap." She spat at the thought of him. She quickened her pace, as if to flee from his lingering presence. Emerging from the burned and darkened trail, she could see the mountain of rubble. "Because I let myself be ruled by a ghost." She shook her head in anger. Her self-hatred flared again inside her body. She tried her hardest to suppress her anger. "Use that energy toward digging." She floated over to the rubble and began her search. 

Ryo-oki caught up behind her and meowed fearfully. "Tenchi's in there?!" Ryoko screamed frantically. "Tenchi!" she cried but there came no reply. She called out his name again, but there was no sound, no movement in the rocks except her persistent digging. She lifted boulder after boulder and threw them away from the debris, for fear she may be smashing Tenchi and Aeka underneath. She called again, but still no answer. She began to cry, but still she searched. "Tenchi…" she whimpered. Then she heard someone moan. "Tenchi?" She looked around gleefully. To her right she thought she saw stones moving. She ran over to it and sifted through the rocks. She saw Tenchi's hand. She moved frantically to free him from his rocky prison. Soon she saw that he had Aeka cradled in other arm. He had saved her. "Thank God…" Ryoko whispered.

She kneeled down and tried to pull him free, but his lower half was still stuck under several rocks. His eyes opened halfway.

"Ryoko…" he mumbled, barely able to breathe. Rain fell to the earth as Ryoko pulled him and Aeka from the remaining debris. 

"I'll take you to Washu," Ryoko said, lifting them both onto her shoulders.

"There isn't enough time," Tenchi coughed. He knew they were dying. Ryoko could sense it too, but she didn't know what to do. She lifted Aeka and Tenchi from the ground and flew back into the forest for cover. The raindrops were now coming like needles, and she had to shield her eyes. The temperature had dropped and the winds roared around them. She could see lightning strike and seconds later the loud snap of thunder shook the ground. She searched the forest for a soft spot of leaves, but instead came back to the clearing she had created. She laid them down with the tenderness a mother gives her newborn. Without a word, she looked over Aeka's wounds. Her leg was twisted in the wrong direction at the knee, and the large gash on her forehead showed why she had lost consciousness. Tenchi had an identical wound on his head, and a his wrist was twisted and mangled, his body covered in scrapes and bruises, blood flowing over his arms out of numerous injuries. Aeka was much less beaten up, so his suffering wasn't in vain. He put a shaky hand to his mouth as he coughed. Blood seeped through his fingers as he gagged. Ryoko looked away in dismay. He was bleeding internally to. _Would he have gone through this for me as well? _Ryoko wondered. 

Ryoko ripped off the tattered bottom of her kimono. Some strips were thick enough to use as bandages. First she wrapped Aeka's head, and then she knelt next to Tenchi. He was still gagging. She rubbed his back, not sure if he was vomiting or coughing up blood. When he lay back on the ground, defeated, Ryoko wrapped a bandage around his head. As Tenchi leaned on the stump to sit up, Ryoko looked at Aeka again. "She's lucky she's unconscious, the poor girl. She'd hurt herself really badly if she saw her leg like that." Ryoko crawled over to where Aeka lay, grabbed her leg, and in one swift motion, snapped it into place. She crawled back over to Tenchi. She examined his wrist. He looked into her eyes.

"Why?" he whispered quietly, as if he were afraid speaking would send him into another coughing fit.

"Why what?" Ryoko asked puzzled. "Look at your wrist? I have to set it in place, it's-"

Tenchi's eyes shut for a moment, and when he opened them, she realized how bloodshot they were. It looked like veins had popped in his eyes. She realized that the dust and rocks must have played a part, but he also looked very tired. How long had he waited for her last night? His skin was so pale, and his voice was meek. "No..." his quiet voice trailed. "You helped Aeka. You did it without anyone telling you to. Why?"

Ryoko looked at Aeka. She looked so helpless. Just a heap of royalty, sprawled out in a mass of cuts and bruises. "She would have done the same for me."

"Do you really think so?" 

"No…" she sighed. "But that doesn't matter." She took his wrist again. "This will hurt." He nodded and she snapped it into place. Tenchi groaned at the pain and thunder again shook the earth. "Sorry." Ryoko whispered.

"It's fine." Tenchi's voice was scratchy and weak. "I'll never understand you two. You're supposed to be enemies, and here you are saving her life," He looked into her amber eyes again. She looked hurt and as if she was about to cry. "You've grown so much. You're so much more mature now. I'm glad." Ryoko shrugged, trying to hide a smile and Tenchi chuckled. He coughed again. His hand flew to his mouth trying to hold back the blood. This time was worse than the last. His entire body was shaking and his hand and mouth were coated in blood. 

Ryoko leaded over Tenchi as she wiped of the blood from his lips. Her lips were close to his and she could smell the metallic scent of blood on his breath. "Tenchi, this is all my fault. I released that energy. I didn't mean to hurt anyone. I was really upset and confused. I didn't mean to hit the mountain. I-" he looked up sadly into her eyes. He took her hand and kissed her fingertips, his lips soothing. She lay her head upon his chest and began to cry. "I'm so sorry." He rubbed his hand up and down her back, trying to ease her breathing. "I'm useless." She whispered. "Everything Kagato said was true. How can it be that I can't even save the ones that I love?"

__

But you can. Washu spoke softly across her mind.

"What! How?" Ryoko's eyes shot open. Washu wouldn't reply. The silence in Ryoko's head was deafening. "What is it Washu? Tell me!" She tried to keep her voice in a demanding tone, but it came out in a pleading one.

__

You really must trust Tenchi and Aeka. This will make you more vulnerable to them than you ever have been in your life. 

"Just give me the damn answer", Ryoko thought.

__

You have to transfer one gem to Aeka's left hand, and one to Tenchi's right. Then move the last gem to your neck. This opens up a way a channel your energy, your life force, into them. 

"Why didn't you tell me this before? How long have you known?" Ryoko was pissed. She may have been able to save many lives, instead of take them away. 'Don't dwell there now, Ryoko. Tenchi needs you,' she whispered to herself.

__

I was afraid, Ryoko. This could kill you. You need to remember that. You can't give away all of your life, your body won't let you do that. Instead, your energy will explode from whatever you were channeling through, usually the hands. This explosion is what might kill you. 

She didn't care. 'Let me die, I deserve that. If my death will save the lives of two, then so be it,' the thought scared her. She didn't realize how much she didn't care if she lived or died. She clung to Tenchi as fear over took her. She suddenly wanted to live, to live forever. She didn't want to die if those she loved would still be here on earth mourning for her. 'But what if they don't mourn?'

"Tenchi?" she whispered, "What would you do if I died?" She could feel his body tense beneath her. 

"I don't know." He looked into her eyes. He looked frightened. "What did Washu say?"

"I can heal both you and Aeka, but in doing so I might kill myself if I'm not careful. I have to give both of you one of my gems, and that way I can channel my life energy to you both."

"Isn't that dangerous?" His voice was becoming forced. The bandage on his head had soaked up all it could and blood trickled down his face. Ryoko couldn't bear to see him in pain any longer. She stood, remembering how much pain Tenchi must be in. She walked over to the princess and lifted her from the ground. Tenchi looked worried when Ryoko laid Aeka next to him. 

"It's alright. Don't be afraid." She smiled, mostly telling herself rather than Tenchi. She kneeled beside him and hugged him, then kissed his forehead. "Wish me luck, I'm not really sure what I'm doing." He smiled, but it was a forced sad smile. 

"Ryoko?" he whispered. She turned around to face him, but he didn't know what he was going to say. "I just wanted to tell you that I-" he began to shiver. Through all his pain he couldn't understand how he could be nervous. "I want you to know… I-uh…"

Her lip quivered and she almost cried from being so happy. She put a finger on his lip to quiet him. She didn't need to hear those words now, not yet. "I love you Tenchi, you've known that, I think, since we first met. Don't worry about me. If I die, that just means Aeka wins, and Aeka will never win." 

"That's the Ryoko I'm used to," Tenchi smiled, his nervousness gone. 

Ryoko knelt down and hugged him. In truth, she was terrified. She was shaking. As hard as she tried, she could not hide her true fear. She knew she would give all that she had, no matter what would happen, but she was still afraid. Tenchi took her hand in his and his thumb lightly caressed her knuckle, down to her fingertip, and back. "Tenchi…" She whispered, "I'm scared, Tenchi." She forced herself to hold back tears. Tenchi laid his hand on the small of her back, rubbing his thumb up and down to soothe her. His mother had done the same when he had told her he was frightened. He was about to tell her to just go and get Washu when she whispered, "What if I'm not strong enough? What if this doesn't work? I'm so afraid of what I'd do if I were to lose you."

Tenchi kissed her forehead then whispered softly into her ear, "Nothing is going to happen, Ryoko. But if it will make you feel better, I promise that I won't die." Then his lips caressed her soft cheek.

Her smile seemed to take his pain away. Slowly he could feel his body going numb, and he realized it wasn't just her smile that was making him feel this way, and he wondered if he could really keep his promise. His hearing was gone now; as Ryoko called his name it sounded as if he were under water. He could no longer feel his body. All that was left was his vision. He thought he saw a tear of an angel. This vision would be his last, before he slipped away into dark nothingness.


	3. earth angel

A Word from our Author: Hey hey! An update! Bet you never thought that would happen ~_* You can all thank Toby-Chan for this, without the little prod I was given, I never would have gotten this updated! Many thanks to you, babe, you definitely saved this fan fic ^_^

"Between Demons and Angels"

Chapter 3: earth angel

"Is that the light?" Tenchi tried to speak, but no words came out. Before him was that famous tunnel, and the light that was promised at the end. "Does it end here?" he wondered. Could his life really have been over? He looked behind him to see the other end of the tunnel. Dark shadows shifted in the abyss. Tenchi could feel the nothingness and the loneliness creeping up toward him as he stared in fear. Then he began to fall. "NO!" he tried to scream, but the dead cannot speak. Terror overtook him as he struggled to rise. "I don't want that…" he whispered in his mind. Tears crept from his eyes. Then he began to rise. He was growing closer and closer to the light. He saw someone inside, a woman. "Is heaven a woman?" Then he saw her, and he knew what his heaven would be. This couldn't be the end.

"Ryoko," he spoke. The sound of his voice relieved him. His pain was real again. He could feel. He could see the beautiful wisps of white that flittered around him. But where was his heaven? Where was Ryoko? A soft glittering light hovered over his heart. He looked beyond himself and saw Ryoko, hunched beside him. Tears glistened on her cheeks and he watched in awe of her beauty. Her tearful eyes were closed as she slowly stood. When she re-opened them, the familiar golden glow had turned to pale silver, and her pupils were lavender. "Love is blind," Tenchi whispered. He knew the cost this was to her. She'd be weaker, yes, but she'd be losing the gems she fought so hard to receive. "You're giving you're ki away, as well." He knew she would give all that she had, and as much as he wanted to dissuade her, he was powerless to stop her. 

Strand by strand, her hair turned from spiky cyan to a silvery white, and became soft and flowed around her. Her skin was pale. "Earth Angel," Tenchi whispered. Her kimono began to stretch and tear as her body became light and floated above the ground. When her kimono could no longer contain them, wings burst through the fabric in a flurry of feathers and cloth. Her hands glowed with the same light that was above Tenchi's heart. It was so amazing and so beautiful, that tears ran down Tenchi's cheeks. 

Tenchi could feel his pain slowly leaving him as Ryoko's life flowed into his body. His lungs stopped aching and he could breathe. Open wounds sealed themselves, leaving no scars. His wrist, along with other bones, crunched back to where they should have been. He felt that his body had been put back together better than it had been before. He knew he was healed, but his voice couldn't call out to Ryoko. The feel of her energy flowing into him was indescribable. Its pleasant tickle pleased him, but also gave him a rush of energy that he could hardly contain, but while Ryoko fed him her ki, he was paralyzed, no matter how rejuvenated he felt. Ryoko smiled, but it wasn't a pleasant one. She looked so sorrowful and aged, yet her appearance hadn't changed. The smile passed and her beautiful face twisted in pain and her bright life light became dim.

Tenchi struggled to speak, "S…stop… please…" but he could barely choke out the words. Ryoko's body began to quiver in the air. The warmth of her glowing skin became cold, she began to fall. "No…" Tenchi whispered.

She screamed, but her voice was lost over the sound of her ki exploding from her hands. Her body was thrown into a tree, knocking the breath from her lungs. Finally able to move, Tenchi leaped up to catch her fall, but she transported out of his sight. Her body had been a bloody mess.

Tenchi was angered by her proud attempt to save herself from being seen weak. "Did you have to let your damned pride get in the way this time!?" and he punched a tree, which then cracked into splinters. He was amazed by his strength. Ryo-oki crept slowly toward him. "Does she ever show anyone her weaknesses?" he asked the cabbit. Ryo-oki just looked up at him sadly, then out into the forest, undoubtedly looking for traces of her dear friend. Then a cold wind caught him, and he thought he saw a snow flake. "What the hell is going on with this weather?" He thought. 

He glanced at Ryo-oki, who was meowing mournfully by Aeka's side. Tenchi picked her up and scratched between her ears. "She's fine, Ryo-oki. Ryoko is the one who may be dying." Ryo-oki struggled to get free from Tenchi's grasp, forcing her way, though still in his grasp, toward the direction she thought Ryoko had gone. "Do you think you're going to go look for her? I can't let you, there's a storm coming. You'll get lost!" Ryo-oki ceased her squirming and looked up fearfully into Tenchi's eyes. "How can a cabbit look so eager?" he sighed, "I'll look for Ryoko. Do you think you can get Miss Aeka home?" The cabbit nodded and jumped from Tenchi's arms and ran to Aeka.

When Tenchi didn't move right away, Ryo-oki began to hiss at him, screaming in her language "Leave! Leave you idiot!"

Tenchi bowed his head to Ryo-oki, who then grasped Aeka by the collar and started the long drag home. Tenchi walked to the tree where he last saw Ryoko. The cloth from her kimono was crumpled on the ground. He gingerly picked it up. He could still feel the warmth of her body on it, and he could smell her sweet scent. 

Ryo-oki hissed once more, and left Aeka's side. This time she had moved in to bite at his ankles, but she hadn't needed to. She watched him as he walked off into the forest. Even in her undeveloped mind, she could tell that Tenchi had no idea where he was going.

~*~

__

Mother, I'm sorry. I'm sorry that I never loved you as a child. If I had known you, Mommy, I never would have doubted you. Mama, I'm scared, I'm so scared. I'm sorry I didn't listen… I'm so cold. Tell Tenchi that I'm sorry, too. Tell the whole world that I'm sorry. Please… Please forgive me. I'm just… so…cold.

Washu sat up quickly in her chair. Her computer clicked off. "Ryoko?" she called to her daughter. Ryoko didn't reply. "Ryoko!" she screamed, desperately trying to reach her with her thoughts. "She can't hear me? She should be able to hear me, no matter the situation," Washu's hands shook nervously and her chest began to ache with fear. "Where are you, daughter?" She asked, though knowing she wouldn't be answered. 

The door suddenly slammed open and Mihoshi entered, frantically yelling "Miss Washu! Miss Washu! Come quick!" then she ran back out of the lab. 

"What the hell?" Washu ran to her door to see what had caused the commotion. When she peeped out of the door she saw that it was snowing outside,it wasn't just snowing, it was a full blown blizzard. Nothing could be seen outside except for the swirling whites. "HOW!?!" she screamed. Her scientific brain couldn't understand the strange change in the weather patterns. This wasn't why she was called. Sasami was running by with a cold compress. Washu followed her and saw Ryo-oki passed out on the floor with twirled eyes. Aeka was on the couch, asleep as well.

"Miss Washu! Miss Washu! I don't know what to do, I mean, Ryo-oki just stumbled in here and passed out and Aeka isn't awake… and I'm so confused! HELP MEEE!!!" Mihoshi stammered then started to cry. Washu threw a pillow in her face.

"Shut up Mihoshi! Thank God you don't work in a hospital… or anywhere important for that matter" Washu massaged her temples trying to suppress an oncoming headache.

Looking at Aeka she could see that the princess was very alive. Ryoko had succeeded. "So Aeka and Tenchi live where my daughter lays dying, maybe even dead. I shouldn't have told her to how to heal." Washu clenched her fists. She would hate herself if she lost her own child again. At least her son was alive, though they were separated. She couldn't say the same about Ryoko.

Sasami touched her hand. "It's ok Miss Washu. Aeka is fine, she's just sleeping." Then the young princess pressed the cold compress to her sister's head. "I wonder what happened?" Sasami glanced outside. "It's really coming down out there. You were right this morning Washu-chan!" Sasami giggled. 

Washu smiled to herself. "Ryoko wanted Tenchi and Aeka to live. She would have figured out how to heal them without my guidance. I did the right thing," she thought. She walked back into the kitchen to get a cold compress for Ryo-oki. "Ryo-oki is my daughter too, isn't she?" Washu said in her childish voice. Sasami smiled warmly at her, and Washu began to feel a little better.


End file.
